Pretty in Pink
by THERExistsAstar
Summary: Ace thinks it will be a normal night but stumbles in upon someone completely different from anyone else in his life. In fact, she will change his life but only if he lets her.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I do not own anything you recognize from _Stand By Me_/_The Body_.

* * *

Elaine debated whether or not she should put her hair in rollers or not.

She knew it was unacceptable not to but she was so sick of all the work that had to be put into it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard knocking but it did not come from her door.

She turned quickly away from her vanity, thinking she would find Ken outside her window, but she did not. It was some blond stranger.

Elaine had no idea what to do. He could be a murderer and she was not going to just open the door.

She ran over to the window.

"Who are you?"  
"I'm Ace, now open the God damn window!"

She knew that name and she knew why he was knocking on her window.

She opened the window, still disbelieving this could actually happen to her. Ace managed to pull himself up through the window as this unknown girl stood by and watched.

She crossed her arms, "You've got the wrong room."  
"Well, I figured _that_ out."  
"Hey, don't you dare give me attitude. I could've left you out there and I'm the one whose going to bring you to Charlie."

Ace was surprised. This girl was not scared or swooned by his presence. In fact, she looked thoroughly pissed off by it.

She rolled her eyes, "Well, come on lover boy."

She went over to her door and poked her head out to see no one was looming in the halls and to hear her parents still in the den, stilling listening to their favorite jazz record.

Elaine looked back at Ace and made a motion for him to follow her, which he did.

She knocked on a door before pushing it open for Ace to enter. But she did not wait to see if he did, she simply went back to her room and to her internal debate.

She threw herself onto her bed. She was sick of her sister's actions. Ace was not the first boy to use Elaine's room as a means to get to her sister.

Charlotte, known as Charlie to the greasers she hung out with, had always been popular with that crowd. The two sisters were nothing alike. Elaine was blond and blue eyed, Charlotte was a brunette with gray eyes. Elaine was the goody two shoes of the family while Charlotte was on the verge of being disowned everyday.

For some reason, Charlotte always told her boyfriends to come sneak in to see her. And whether she told them as well to come through Elaine's room or not, they always did. It was the logical choice.

Charlie's room had two windows – one, that if you climbed into, anyone in the kitchen would see, and the other was right above the dining room. Elaine's room had two windows and they were both above her parents' room but there were no windows on that side of the room so no one would see anyone sneaking into her room. Plus, there was a large tree outside the window to aid in the climb.

It also helped that Charlie and Elaine's parents never suspected Elaine would have anyone sneak through her window or aid in Charlie's rebellion.

But Charlie and Elaine had always been close despite their differences and since Charlie was the older one, Elaine had always looked up to her. And even though Charlie knew of her parents favoring her younger sibling, she never let it get to her.

Elaine was favored for a reason though. She had always been the respectable sister, the conforming sister. She did not like it but she did it. But it did not mean her sister did not influence her.

She knew how to stand up for herself and she did obviously go against her parents wishes sometimes, case in point with aiding Charlie's many lovers.

She fell asleep, thinking of her role in the family.

And a couple of hours later, Ace slipped into her room and out her window, taking note of the many pins and rollers in her hair.

She had lost her debate.

* * *

A few nights later, Ace again climbed the tree outside the Duvall residence. He did not understand why he even bothered, this was too much for a girl.

The light was on in the room he was climbing to, meaning Charlie's little sister was home. But thankfully, she had left the window open.

He pushed himself through the small opening and fell rather disgracefully into the room. He would not have cared if he had not heard the younger girl chuckling at his entrance.

"Shut up. You try fitting through there!"  
"No need to get nasty about it."

She looked a little disappointed at his anger so he tried to be a little bit nicer, but not too much.

She sighed, "Come on. Be really quiet, my mom went to bed early tonight."

He followed her out the door and did the same thing she had done three days later – she knocked and turned to leave. But Ace grabbed her arm.

"Hey, wait."  
"What?"  
"I never got your name."  
"It's Elaine. Now hurry up and get in there."  
"Well, _Elaine_, thank you for leaving your window open."  
She was not sure if he was sincere but gave up trying to understand and said, "You're welcome."

Elaine went back to her room and turned her radio up a bit more, to cover up anything that would be going on down the hall though it was unlikely she would hear – their rooms were rather far apart.

She looked over the brochures from every college in the state of Oregon but none of them appealed to her, well, maybe George Fox University but only because her boyfriend, Ken, went there.

Since she knew no one was going to be checking on her anytime soon, she pulled out a number of small booklets from between her mattresses.

They were more college brochures from places her parents or boyfriend probably would not approve of – Boston University, Oberlin College, Brandeis, UCLA, Berkeley – either because they were too far or 'too corrupted.' That was exactly why she liked them.

She dreamed of what her life could be if she could get away to these colleges, away from her family.

Her eyelids got heavy as she looked over the already memorized brochures.

A strong hand shook her away and her eyes opened to see the town's biggest bully with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, uh, I thought I'd wake you since you'd fallen asleep with, uh, your clothes on and all."

Ace had no idea why he was stumbling over his words. He blamed it on being so late and him being so tired, especially now.

"How long was I out?"  
"I don't know but it's a little after one in the morning."  
"Oh gosh, thank you so much."

Ace nodded and walked over to the window.

"Do you know when the next time you'll come? I mean, I don't mind most nights, it being summer and all, but some nights it gets rather cold and I don't want to have to leave it open if it doesn't need to be."  
"Uh, I don't know when I'll be back next. But how about I don't come on nights it's chilly?"

A smile brightened up upon her face, "Okay, thanks so much. Well, 'night."  
"Night," he said roughly before making his way down towards the ground.

He jumped off the tree and stopped to look up at the window he had just came out off.

He did not know why but the girl who had just turned the lights out in there made him feel different. She was the only one who made his image fall to pieces when he was around her.

When he was around other girls, girls like Charlie, it was easy to act tough and like he did not give a damn. It crumbled at the mere mention of the name Elaine.

This girl was going to be trouble. She was going to be the end of him if he let her.

He gave up trying to sort the whole deal out in his head and headed towards his car, which was waiting for him some ways down the street.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Again, do not own anything from Stephen King. He's the genius, not me. This one does not have a lot of Ace... sorry. The next one will, I promise!

Thank you so much for the reviews, btw!

* * *

Though Ace tried to fight it, he found his visits to the Duvall residence increased over the next month, but his spent with Charlie stayed about the same, if not it decreased. He spent most of his time in with Elaine in her room, going well into the morning on some nights.

There were no expectations between them. Ace knew he would get nothing from her that he could get from any other girl – she was dead set on staying faithful to her college freshman boyfriend, Ken. She, on the other hand, had no idea what exactly to expect from the ever surprising Ace Merrill.

At first, Elaine had no idea what she was supposed to talk about with the town's biggest bully – a boy no one would have ever thought to connect her with. But after a while, it seemed there was nothing that they had not talked about. Soon, she could not help but anticipate and look forward to his visits.

In fact, they began to consider the other as a friend, though not publically, of course.

Once, Ace caught himself attending the high school's showing of _Gentlemen Prefer Blondes_, which Elaine was starring in as Lorelei Lee. He hid in the back row with a baseball cap trying not to have his face seen. But he would not have missed it for the world, though he would never have admitted that.

When he told Elaine he had seen the musical, he played it off like some other girl had forced him to go. She had mixed feelings toward Ace's confession. Especially since she had just broken up with her boyfriend.

* * *

Charlotte Duvall strolled along the street and finally caught sight of who she was looking for.

It was Ace along with Eyeball but she did not care, it was Ace she was after.

She acted as if she did not see them, or at least like she did not care.

She stopped when they finally met on the sidewalk and she pulled Ace aside.

"Ace, why don't you drop in tonight, hmm?"

Eyeball made a whistling noise but it went ignored.

She continued despite of it, "My sister's going out, so you won't have to deal with her. Just me."  
"Where's your sister going?"  
"She's got a date tonight with some kid named Ronny, she said she won't be home until late."

Ace knew Eyeball was watching everything and he knew he could not refuse Charlie or he would never hear the end of it, so he played it cool.

"I'll see if I can make it," he said before he stepped away and walked off with Eyeball.

Charlie smiled coyly. She had to admit, she had missed Ace Merrill very much and she was happy he would come by. She mentally thanked her sister for having another engagement that would take her from her room.

She recalled the conversation quite well from earlier in the day.

Charlie had knocked on her sister's door to find her writing in her diary.

She peaked around the door, "Hey, you busy?"  
"Nope, I'm actually kind of bored."  
Charlie sat down on her sister's bed, "Good, I wanted to talk to you. We really haven't talked lately, especially since the whole thing with Ken."  
Elaine rolled her eyes, "Please don't tell me you want to talk about him too. I already had an earful from mom and dad."  
"I know, but I just want to know if you're all right because of it. I mean, I thought you two were perfect for each other."  
The younger girl sighed, "Yeah, I guess we were... but I don't want that life anymore."  
"What life?"  
"Oh please, Charlie, like you don't know what I'm talking about. We'd wait until after I graduated high school and then we'd get married. My life would pretty much be over right then. I'd have a couple of children and that would be my life. A mother and a wife. I don't want that."  
"What do you want?"  
Elaine shrugged, "I don't know. I wish I could be more like you, just do what I want."  
"No, Laney, you don't want to be like me. You're too good for this kind of life."  
"Why? Aren't you happy?"  
"I guess, but where is my life really going? What hopes do I have? I'm a year out of high school and still nothing. I'm not in college, I've got a crappy part time job. I don't even have a boyfriend."  
"Oh please, Charlie, you could get any man you want."  
"Sweetheart, trust me, you deserve better than what I have. You've always been destined for more."

Elaine sighed and laid down on the bed.

"What are we going to do with ourselves, Charlie?"  
Her sister laid down next to her, "I don't know."

There was a silence for a few minutes as they both thought it over.

"Want to know a secret?"  
Charlie turned her head to look at her sister, "You bet."  
"Promise not to tell?"  
"Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."  
"I have a date tonight."  
"Really?! Who is he?!"  
Elaine tried to calm her sister down, "His name is Ronny."  
"How'd you meet?"  
Elaine thought of how to put it nicely, "Uh, one of my friends set us up."  
"Is he cute?!"  
"_Gorgeous!"_

The sisters squealed together. But Charlie was the one who was more excited. Elaine, though excited, knew it was not what she really wanted. Ronny was the closest thing she could get to... _to Ace Merrill_. But she did not want Charlie to know because she knew her sister would stop her.

"What time is he picking you up?"  
"Well, mom and dad don't know. But I'm supposed to meet him at eight."  
"Elaine Duvall, are you going to sneak out?!"  
Elaine almost lunged at her sister, "Shh! Don't say it too loud!"  
"Golly gee, you _are! _Wow, who would've ever thought _my_ little sister would break the rules."  
"Oh shut up, I can break rules!" Elaine tried to defend herself.  
"Just because you hide your rock n' roll records from mom and dad doesn't mean you break the rules."  
"Hey! Technically, I am! 'None of that meaningless music is my house!' " Elaine imitated her father.

They both shrieked with laughter.

"All right, fine, Elaine, you have your moments."  
"Thank you," she said proudly.  
"You're welcome. Now let's decide what you're going to wear for tonight!"

The girls had picked something out before Charlie said she had to go meet someone. But she was not going to meet anyone, she was going to find someone.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN**: Here's an update, enjoy! Remember, I don't own anything King wrote or came up with!

* * *

Joan pulled on Ace's arm, "Come _on_, Ace, I don't want to be surrounded by horny teenagers. Let's go into the woods, it's more romantic."

Ace did not know if she was trying to persuade him with the thought that it would be romantic because, honestly, he did not care. He was just trying to keep the girl happy so, in turn, she would make him happy.

He knew he did not have to go through so much trouble if all he wanted was a woman's "intimacy" but Charlie was out of the question even if she had invited him over. He would not go there because every time he was with Charlie in her room, he would always think of where he would rather be and who he would rather be with since she was so close. Even with her out on a date, it did not change the fact that he would have to go through her room, see the pictures of her, and smell her perfume looming in the air.

Joan would have to do for now.

Joan dragged him along the path and pulled him close, kissing him hungrily and he gladly kissed back. But sounds caught his ear, a voice.

"No, Ronny, I don't want to," she sounded helpless.  
Another voice entered the picture, a male voice, "Come on, Elaine, I know for a fact you wanna."

That was all he needed to know what was happening. There were not that many Elaines in Castle Rock and even if it was not the one he thought it was, he would still be helping some helpless girl out. Though it did not go much for his reputation, the chicks would dig it.

He followed the muffled noises that soon burst out in a scream, causing Ace to break out into a run towards it until he found a man on top of a struggling blonde.

Ronny did not know what was going on until after he had been pulled off of Elaine and had felt sheer pain break out across his face as someone started punching him.

Elaine sat up and watched the first few blows in shock, trying to get a hold of her thoughts.

"Ace! What on earth are you doing?!"

Elaine looked over to see a girl come out from the woods, her shirt slightly disheveled. Elaine knew who she was and it angered her.

She got up and tried to pull Ace off of Ronny though she did not really care what happened to Ronny anymore, it angered her that Ace was the one to save her.

She stumbled getting up but called for Ace to let off and when he did not, she just started beating on his back, ready to cry.

And then all Hell broke loose.

"Hey, you leave him alone!"

Elaine was pushed to the ground by Joan, who felt it was her job to protect her date, and she thought it would be easy since the girl obviously could not defend herself.

She was wrong. She had messed with a girl who was almost violated, had her heart broken by guy this girl was on a date with, and now she could get her revenge.

Joan was on her way to ending up like Ronny was now until Ace again had to pull someone off of someone else.

Joan and Ronny stayed where they were as they tried to recover.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Ace screamed.  
"What do you think _you're_ doing is a better question!"  
He looked at her like she was crazy, "I was getting him off of you!"  
"Like I need _your_ help Ace Merrill!"  
He threw his hands up in the hands, as if defeated, "Fine, next time I'll just let him rape you."  
"Like it would make any difference to you!"

Ace went to grab her, to give her some kind of comfort and show that he did care but he she flung her arm away from him.

"Just leave me alone!"

She ran over to Ronny to check on him as Ace really did gave up. He helped Joan up and they walked back to his car.

Elaine felt tears fall from her eyes as she sat next to an unconscious Ronny. She did not want to stay here with him – she did not even want to be near him. But he was her ride home. She had no idea what to do.

Until finally, she came up with a plan and grabbed his keys from his pocket and rushed off to his car. She made it to the parking lot just in time to see Ace's car speed off into the night.

She let it go and got into Ronny's car and started the engine. She somehow made it back to his house in one piece.

Not wanting to drive herself to her house in his car, she got out and started walking towards her house.

It was not that long of a walk but Elaine was tired nonetheless as she started up the tree outside her window.

She stopped herself from crying as she scraped her knee on a branch but she sniffled as she crawled through the window.

She stood up and wiped herself off before she took notice of the person sitting on her bed. She knew it, she was busted. One her first attempt at sneaking out, her parents had caught her.

But when the figure turned, she did not see the face of either of her parents, or even the face of her sister. She saw the face of Ace Merrill looking so sad.

She stuttered, trying to think of what to say to him but he cleared his throat and spoke before she could, "I-I came to see if you were all right."  
For some reason, this angered her even more, "I'm quite fine, thank you."

She headed for the door so she could wash up in the bathroom but Ace grabbed her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Let _go_ of me," she hissed.  
"_No_."

She starting struggling against him to let her go until he got so frustrated, he threw her onto the bed to make her stop. And she did. But only because she was scared.

"What were you thinking? _Ronny Carmichael?_ Why would you ever go on a date with him?!"  
Her fear was forgotten and her anger raged again, "What? I'm not allowed to go on dates while you can gallivant with every girl in and around Castle Rock?!"  
"This isn't about me, Elaine!"  
She stood up and went at him, "You bet it is! I want to know why you care so damn much what happens to me!"  
"I care so damn much because I-"  
"You _what?_"  
He would not allow himself to say it, "Because I didn't want you to get hurt."  
"I can take care of myself!"  
"Obviously you can't! You almost got raped out there! What would ever make you think to go out with Ronny Carmichael?"

The disgust on his face hurt Elaine. She did not like him looking at her like that, it made her anger slip away.

She looked down at her hands, "I just had to get out of here."  
He kneeled down in front of her, "Is this because of Ken? Are you not over him?"  
"Ken!? Why does everything always come back to Ken!?"  
"Because he dumped you two weeks ago, Elaine!"  
She pushed by him, "You know absolutely nothing about me Ace Merrill, _nothing!_ Do you have any idea as to why Ken broke up with me? _Do you?!_"

He stayed silent. He did not know.

She slide her hand under her pillow, where she had left her diary earlier in the day when her sister came in. She flipped through the pages until she got to an entry that was about three weeks old. She pushed it into Ace's hand and pointed to the entry.

"That's why. He saw that and dumped me."

He looked at the words she was referring to and read them over carefully.

_I don't know how much longer I can handle all of this, my life. Nothing is going right anymore. I don't want to me anymore, I wish I were... I wish I were my sister. She's so pretty and she can do whatever she wants, she never worries about the consequences. She isn't destined to be some boring housewife like I am. Not only that, but she can have the one thing I want. She has Ace Merrill, someone I'll never get, let alone have a chance with._

Inside, Ace crumbled. He was no longer tough guy Ace Merrill, leader of the Cobras – he was just a guy. And he did not know what to say or do.

Elaine stopped pacing and sat down on the bed, she had nothing else to say to him. He was going to have to be the one to say something.

She watched as he put the book down, cross the room, and climb out the window without a word.

She got up and found her pajamas, heading out of the room towards the bathroom.

As she shut her bedroom door behind her, her mother came up the stairs, "Honey, is everything all right? I heard a commotion."  
Elaine was so thankful her mother came up now instead of earlier, "Oh yeah, something broke that's all."  
"Oh, do you need any help?"  
"No, don't worry, it was nothing important."  
"Okay, well, good night dear."

Elaine smiled and shut the bathroom door.

"Nothing important, just my heart."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Okay, so this is the last chapter of Pretty in Pink. I had no idea when I started this that it would only take four chapters but it did. I hope that's okay. But remember, all characters but Elaine and Charlie are Stephen King's.

Please review, they are much appreciated!

* * *

Ace stopped visiting the Duvall house over the next week. He avoided any place where he might see either Elaine or Charlie. He made sure to always be busy so if, for some reason, Charlie came looking for him, he would have an excuse to ignore her.

But with all his effort, he could not get away from the memory of Elaine and he could surely not get away from his own know-it-all mother.

"John, isn't this the girl you're seeing?" she asked from across the breakfast table.

Mrs. Merrill turned the paper she had laid out in front of her on the table so Ace could see.

She pointed towards a picture, "That Duvall girl."

Ace looked the picture over slowly, though he had instantly known it was not "the girl he was seeing," or at least the one his mother thought he was seeing (though Ace would not have minded if he was seeing Elaine).

He pushed the paper back to his mother, "No, that's her younger sister, Elaine. I'm 'seeing' Charlotte."  
"Oh," his mother realized.

Ace thought the conversation had ended there so he went back to his sandwich but his mother went on, "She's very pretty, you know. Is her sister anything like her?"

Ace laughed for many reasons, "Not at all."  
"You mean Charlotte isn't pretty?"  
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "No, she is. She just does not look, or act, anything like Elaine."  
"Oh, that's too bad. Elaine seems very talented. You should spend more time with girls like her instead, though I'm sure her sister is nice too."  
"Thanks for you advice, mom," Ace pushed his chair back, ready to leave.  
She called him back, "John! I didn't mean it in a bad way! I just want the best for you-"  
"You don't need to worry about what's best for me!"  
"Yes, I do, I'm your _mother!_ Come on, tell me, what are Charlotte's plans for life? Does she plan on going to college? _Getting married?_"  
"I don't know," Ace shrugged angrily, "We don't talk about those things."  
Mrs. Merrill raised both eyebrows at that, "You don't talk about goals or the future with the girl you're _dating?_ What about Elaine?"  
Ace sat back down, calming himself down, "She wants to go to UCLA and sure, I guess, she wants to get married. She just doesn't want to be one of those trophy wives."  
"See, at least _she_ has a plan. Does she have a boyfriend?"  
"Mom, why do you care so much about Elaine Duvall?"  
"Because _you_ do. Now answer the damn question."  
Ace took a while to answer as he let the first sentence compute, realizing his mother actually knew what she was talking about, "No, she doesn't. She used to but they broke up a while ago."  
"Why did they break up?"  
Ace was getting sick of this line of questioning fast, "He found out she liked someone else."  
"Who does she like?"  
"How should I know?"  
"Because I know you know," she smirked.  
He rolled his eyes, "How?"  
"The look in your eye when you saw her picture and how you know more about her than her sister, the one you claim to be with. Don't try to change the subject, who does she like, John?"

Ace sat silently. He crossed his arms and inwardly vowed not to say.

His mother stood up, "John _Alfred_ Merrill! Answer your mother!"  
"She likes _me_, dammit!" he raised to meet her.  
She sat back down with a smile on her face, "That's what I thought."  
He sat back down as well, "How do you know so much?"  
"Because you're my son and I know what it's like to love someone."

Ace went over the words in his head. He did not _love_ Elaine Duvall so he told himself his mother was talking out her... _behind_.

"Well?" she said expectantly.  
"Well what?"  
"Why haven't you asked her out?"  
"Do I have to spell it out for you?"  
"Obviously, or I wouldn't be asking," it was becoming more and more obvious where Ace got his attitude from.  
Ace shot her a look but continued, "Mom, look at me. Look at my life and try to picture her in it. She wants to go to college and I don't even have a chance at college, let alone a future."  
"_She'_s your future."  
He slammed his plate back on the table, "Mom, don't pull this romantic bullshit on me."  
"Fine, son, if you want to ignore what's right in front of your damn face, go ahead and do it! She'll move on and find someone else, someone who may be better suited for her but she won't love as much, and you'll sit here in Oregon, getting fat, and regretting it for the rest of your life! So don't bitch and moan about having no future because if you end up not having one, it's your own damn fault!"

His mother threw the newspaper back down on the table and stormed off into another part of the house, fed up with her son's ignorance.

He sat at the table a while longer, wondering what he should do. Ace liked Elaine more than he had ever liked anyone. Was he willing to be a 'one-woman man'? For Elaine?

Ace thought about it. Anything for Elaine.

He did not rush from the house, so his mother would not think he had had some romantic epiphany and run out to find the young Duvall sister. No matter how true it was.

Looking at the clock, he saw it was almost time for school to let out, which he was incredibly thankful of. He sat in his car, outside the school, counting down the minutes until Elaine would walk through those doors. He would have waited outside the car but it was snowing pretty hard.

When the final bell rang, he watched as dozens of kids poured out into the parking lot or onto the buses. Elaine seemed to be taking her sweet time as she strolled out moments after the crowd had calmed.

It did not take her long to take notice of Ace's car and then Ace himself. But she ignored it and continued on her route to her own car, not wanting to remain in the cold for much longer. She was not going to watch Ace pick another girl up, or at least that is what she thought was going on until he called after her, chasing after her.

"What do you want?"  
"I wanted to talk to you about the other night."  
"The other night? It was over a week ago, Ace! Forget it, I got the picture, there's nothing to explain," she unlocked her car door.  
He grabbed her hand, stopping her from opening the door and leaving, "Hey, I like you. If you ask me, I like you too much. I mean, I'd give up every other girl for you. But no matter how good you would be for me, I'm rotten for you. You deserve a lot better."  
His words touched her, "What are you talking about?"  
"Listen, I want you to have everything in the world and more, okay? I want you to fall in love with someone who will love you just as much as you love him. A guy who will love you for you, for your kindness, for your talents, even for your faults. I want you to have someone who will always be there for you and say all the right things even when he has nothing to say. He's out there, you just gotta look for him, Elaine."  
"W-Why can't you be him?" she felt as if she was about to cry.  
"Because I'm no good, I've got no future!"  
"Of course you do, Ace! You can do anything you want to do!"  
"Don't try and feed me that third grade bullshit, Elaine."

Elaine said nothing for a while and only the sound of her muffled sobs again his chest could be heard.

She pulled away and looked into Ace's eyes, "Don't you even like me?"  
He furrowed his eyebrows, "I just told you I did! And you shouldn't even be doubting that."  
She pushed away from him in anger, "How can I not doubt it if you run away at the thought of being with me?"  
"Laney, I _want_ to be with you," he whispered.  
"Then why are we even having this conversation?!"  
"Because you deserve someone better!" he tried to reason with her.  
"Who decided I was better than you?"  
His head fell, "Everyone."  
"And since when did you care what everyone else thinks?"  
"Laney, these questions have gotta stop!"  
"No, I won't stop. I've got to understand your reasoning for breaking my heart, John Merrill!" she yelled.  
He yelled back, "Fine, I care so much because it concerns you. You deserve the best and I'm just not it!"  
"Ace, I know a lot of guys, ones that _everyone_ approves of, but none of them treat me as well as you have!" her voice was pleading, almost desperate.

Ace knew his defense was slowly crumbling. She knew it so as she saw his shoulders begin to sag.

Ace figured it was his turn to start asking questions, "So what you're telling me is you love me so much you're willing to throw your life away?"  
"If I get to spend it with you, I wouldn't see it as 'throwing it away', but yes, I'd be willing."

He looked into her eyes and saw just how serious she was.

How could he argue with an answer like that?

Suddenly, he got her point. He could not believe he had even thought about giving her up, let alone actually going and almost doing it.

She had been watching him as he thought it over and she clung onto him, scared it might be the last time she would get to do so.

"You know," he paused to make her anxious, "You should be a lawyer. You sure persuaded me."  
She looked at him, hope shining in her eyes, "So you'll stay with me?"  
He encircled his arms around her quivering body, "Yeah, I guess so."  
"You_ guess_ so? Don't try to bullshit me, Merrill, I make you weak in the knees, I make your heart skip a beat. You don't even want to think of losing me."  
"Shut up," he grumbled and opened the car door for her.  
She smiled at him as the door closed, "That's what I thought. I'll see you tonight."


End file.
